Stocks continued their steep sell-off as the S&P lost 1% on the day. Investors were left with little to be optimistic about as a look under the hood showed GDP was weaker than the headline figure and concerns over Greece and the bank regulatory plan weighed on the markets. Breadth was negative on the day at 2:1 and volume was again high. The market is set to close out January with a 3.7% loss.
From Daily Futures:
U.S. Economy
The U.S. Commerce Department said that real GDP was up 1.4% in the fourth quarter, stronger than expected and the best performance since the third quarter of 2003. From a year ago, GDP was up slightly.
Livestock
The USDA will release its semi-annual cattle inventory report after today’s close.
Currencies
Statistics Canada said that real GDP was up .4% in November, stronger than expected. From a year ago, GDP was down 1.7%.
Japan’s Trade Ministry said that the unemployment rate improved from 5.2% to 5.1% in December with 130,000 new jobs, the most in four months. Factory output increased 2.2% in December. Household spending was up 2.2% in December from a year ago, more than expected. Consumer prices were down 1.7% in December from a year ago.
Eurostat said that the unemployment rate in the EU-27 increased from 9.5% to 9.6% in December, the highest since records began in January of 2000. Also, they expect consumer prices in the Euro area to have risen 1.0% in January from a year ago.
Mr. Roche is the Founder and Chief Investment Officer of Discipline Funds.Discipline Funds is a low fee financial advisory firm with a focus on helping people be more disciplined with their finances.
He is also the author of Pragmatic Capitalism: What Every Investor Needs to Understand About Money and Finance, Understanding the Modern Monetary System and Understanding Modern Portfolio Construction.